The invention is directed to an oven installation as intermediate storage between the non-mandrel type coiling device for the strip-shaped slab located downstream of a thin-slab casting installation and its uncoiling device corresponding to the rolling mill downstream.
A process and a device for producing hot-rolled strip steel from continuous-cast primary material are known from the German Offenlegungsschrift 32 41 745. In this process and device the strip-shaped slab is formed into a bundle in a coiling device. After the bundle weight is reached, the bundle is guided into an oven constructed as an intermediate storage. At the same time, the bundle which is transferred from the coiling device to the uncoiling device located downstream is preferably kept hot or reheated by this oven so that the casting heat is substantially maintained.
In this way, the prior art attempts to solve the problem of in-line rolling of primary material continuously emerging from the continuous casting installation. The problem consists in that the maximum casting speed at which the slab emerges from the continuous casting installation is much lower than the lowest possible rolling speed of a conventional roll stand. This problem can be offset if the slab is coiled in a bundle, severed at a desired length, and then uncoiled again for insertion into the rolling mill. Accordingly, it is possible to maintain different speeds in that a buffer zone is created between the continuous casting installation and the rolling mill.
Another problem in such installations consists in that periods of disruption which can occur in the rolling mill downstream of the thin-slab casting installation must also be offset in addition to the different coiling and uncoiling speeds of the bundles. Time required for conversion and maintenance work in the rolling mill must also be offset.